As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates,
the following terms mean:
COPYING
If requested by a member of the public, copies provided as detailed in Section
117.110 of this Chapter, if duplication equipment is available.
PUBLIC BUSINESS
All matters which relate in any way to performance of the
City's functions or the conduct of its business.
PUBLIC GOVERNMENTAL BODY
Any legislative, administrative or governmental entity created
by the Constitution or Statutes of this State, orders or ordinances
of the City, judicial entities when operating in an administrative
capacity or by executive order, including:
1.
Any advisory committee or commission appointed by the Mayor
or Board of Aldermen.
2.
Any department or division of the City.
3.
Any other legislative or administrative governmental deliberative
body under the direction of three (3) or more elected or appointed
members having rulemaking or quasi-judicial power.
4.
Any committee appointed by or at the direction of any of the
entities and which is authorized to report to any of the above-named
entities, any advisory committee appointed by or at the direction
of any of the named entities for the specific purpose of recommending,
directly to the public governmental body's governing board or its
Chief Administrative Officer, policy or policy revisions or expenditures
of public funds.
5.
Any quasi-public governmental body. The term "quasi-public
governmental body" means any person, corporation or partnership
organized or authorized to do business in this State pursuant to the
provisions of Chapters 352, 353 or 355, RSMo., or unincorporated association
which either:
a.
Has as its primary purpose to enter into contracts with public
governmental bodies or to engage primarily in activities carried out
pursuant to an agreement or agreements with public governmental bodies;
or
b.
Performs a public function, as evidenced by a statutorily or
ordinance-based capacity, to confer or otherwise advance, through
approval, recommendation or other means, the allocation or issuance
of tax credits, tax abatement, public debt, tax exempt debt, rights
of eminent domain, or the contracting of lease-back agreements on
structures whose annualized payments commit public tax revenues; or
any association that directly accepts the appropriation of money from
the City, but only to the extent that a meeting, record or vote relates
to such appropriation.
PUBLIC MEETING
Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this
Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided or public
policy formulated, whether such meeting is conducted in person or
by means of communication equipment including, but not limited to,
conference call, video conference, Internet chat or Internet message
board. The term "public meeting" shall not include
an informal gathering of members of a public governmental body for
ministerial or social purposes when there is no intent to avoid the
purposes of this Chapter, but the term shall include a vote of all
or a majority of the members of a public governmental body, by electronic
communication or any other means, conducted in lieu of holding a public
meeting with the members of the public governmental body gathered
at one (1) location in order to conduct public business.
PUBLIC RECORD
Any record, whether written or electronically stored, retained
by or of any public governmental body including any report, survey,
memorandum, or other document or study prepared for the public governmental
body by a consultant or other professional service paid for in whole
or in part by public funds, including records created or maintained
by private contractors under an agreement with a public governmental
body or on behalf of a public governmental body. The term "public record" shall not include any internal memorandum
or letter received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public
governmental body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations
in connection with the deliberative decision-making process of said
body, unless such records are retained by the public governmental
body or presented at a public meeting. Any documents or study prepared
for a public governmental body by a consultant or other professional
service as described in this subdivision shall be retained by the
public governmental body in the same manner as any other public record.
PUBLIC VOTE
Any vote, whether conducted in person, by telephone, or by
any other electronic means, cast at any public meeting of any public
governmental body.
[Ord. No. 14.18 §§1 — 2, 4-17-2014]
A. Except to the extent disclosure is otherwise required by law, a public
governmental body is authorized to close meetings, records and votes,
to the extent they relate to the following:
1.
Legal actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public
governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications
between a public governmental body or its representatives and its
attorneys. However, any minutes, vote or settlement agreement relating
to legal actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public
governmental body or any agent or entity representing its interests
or acting on its behalf or with its authority, including any insurance
company acting on behalf of a public governmental body as its insured,
shall be made public upon final disposition of the matter voted upon
or upon the signing by the parties of the settlement agreement, unless,
prior to final disposition, the settlement agreement is ordered closed
by a court after a written finding that the adverse impact to a plaintiff
or plaintiffs to the action clearly outweighs the public policy considerations
of Section 610.011, RSMo.; however, the amount of any moneys paid
by, or on behalf of, the public governmental body shall be disclosed;
provided, however, in matters involving the exercise of the power
of eminent domain, the vote shall be announced or become public immediately
following the action on the motion to authorize institution of such
a legal action. Legal work product shall be considered a closed record;
2.
Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate by a public governmental
body where public knowledge of the transaction might adversely affect
the legal consideration therefor. However, any minutes, vote or public
record approving a contract relating to the leasing, purchase or sale
of real estate by a public governmental body shall be made public
upon execution of the lease, purchase or sale of the real estate;
3.
Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting of particular employees
by a public governmental body when personal information about the
employee is discussed or recorded. However, any vote on a final decision,
when taken by a public governmental body, to hire, fire, promote or
discipline an employee of a public governmental body shall be made
available with a record of how each member voted to the public within
seventy-two (72) hours of the close of the meeting where such action
occurs; provided, however, that any employee so affected shall be
entitled to prompt notice of such decision during the seventy-two-hour
period before such decision is made available to the public. As used
in this Subsection, the term "personal information" means information
relating to the performance or merit of individual employees;
4.
Non-judicial mental or physical health proceedings involving
identifiable persons, including medical, psychiatric, psychological,
or alcoholism or drug dependency diagnosis or treatment;
5.
Testing and examination materials, before the test or examination
is given or, if it is to be given again, before so given again;
6.
Welfare cases of identifiable individuals;
7.
Preparation, including any discussions or work product, on behalf
of a public governmental body or its representatives for negotiations
with employee groups;
8.
Software codes for electronic data processing and documentation
thereof;
9.
Specifications for competitive bidding, until either the specifications
are officially approved by the public governmental body or the specifications
are published for bid;
10.
Sealed bids and related documents, until the bids are opened;
and sealed proposals and related documents or any documents related
to a negotiated contract until a contract is executed, or all proposals
are rejected;
11.
Individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings
or records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment, except
that this exemption shall not apply to the names, positions, salaries
and lengths of service of officers and employees of public agencies
once they are employed as such, and the names of private sources donating
or contributing money to the salary of a chancellor or president at
all public colleges and universities in the State of Missouri and
the amount of money contributed by the source;
12.
Records which are protected from disclosure by law;
13.
Meetings and public records relating to scientific and technological
innovations in which the owner has a proprietary interest;
14.
Records relating to municipal hotlines established for the reporting
of abuse and wrongdoing;
15.
Confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental
body and its auditor, including all auditor work product; however,
all final audit reports issued by the auditor are to be considered
open records pursuant to this Chapter;
16.
Operational guidelines, policies and specific response plans
developed, adopted, or maintained by any public agency responsible
for law enforcement, public safety, first response, or public health
for use in responding to or preventing any critical incident which
is or appears to be terrorist in nature and which has the potential
to endanger individual or public safety or health. Financial records
related to the procurement of or expenditures relating to operational
guidelines, policies or plans purchased with public funds shall be
open. When seeking to close information pursuant to this exception,
the public governmental body shall affirmatively state in writing
that disclosure would impair the public governmental body's ability
to protect the security or safety of persons or real property, and
shall in the same writing state that the public interest in non-disclosure
outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the records;
17.
Existing or proposed security systems and structural plans of
real property owned or leased by a public governmental body, and information
that is voluntarily submitted by a non-public entity owning or operating
an infrastructure to any public governmental body for use by that
body to devise plans for protection of that infrastructure, the public
disclosure of which would threaten public safety:
a.
Records related to the procurement of or expenditures relating
to security systems purchased with public funds shall be open;
b.
When seeking to close information pursuant to this exception,
the public governmental body shall affirmatively state in writing
that disclosure would impair the public governmental body's ability
to protect the security or safety of persons or real property, and
shall in the same writing state that the public interest in non-disclosure
outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the records;
c.
Records that are voluntarily submitted by a non-public entity
shall be reviewed by the receiving agency within ninety (90) days
of submission to determine if retention of the document is necessary
in furtherance of State security interest. If retention is not necessary,
the documents shall be returned to the non-public governmental body
or destroyed;
18.
The portion of a record that identifies security systems or
access codes or authorization codes for security systems of real property;
19.
Records that identify the configuration of components or the
operation of a computer, computer system, computer network, or telecommunications
network, and would allow unauthorized access to or unlawful disruption
of a computer, computer system, computer network, or telecommunications
network of a public governmental body. This exception shall not be
used to limit or deny access to otherwise public records in a file,
document, data file or database containing public records. Records
related to the procurement of or expenditures relating to such computer,
computer system, computer network, or telecommunications network,
including the amount of moneys paid by, or on behalf of, a public
governmental body for such computer, computer system, computer network,
or telecommunications network shall be open;
20.
Credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, digital
certificates, physical and virtual keys, access codes or authorization
codes that are used to protect the security of electronic transactions
between a public governmental body and a person or entity doing business
with a public governmental body. Nothing in this Section shall be
deemed to close the record of a person or entity using a credit card
held in the name of a public governmental body or any record of a
transaction made by a person using a credit card or other method of
payment for which reimbursement is made by a public governmental body.
B. Reservation Of Closed Records. Pursuant to the power granted to a public body in Section 610.021, RSMo., all records, meetings and votes referenced in Section
117.020(A) of this Code of Ordinances are hereby designated as closed records, meetings or votes. All such records are subject to any disclosure required by State Statute, legal process or ordered by a duly adopted ordinance of the Board of Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 19.71, 11-7-2019]
Any member of a public governmental body who transmits any message
relating to public business by electronic means shall also concurrently
transmit that message to either the member's public office computer
or the custodian of records in the same format. The provisions of
this Section shall only apply to messages sent to two (2) or more
members of that body so that, when counting the sender, a majority
of the body's members are copied. Any such message received by the
custodian or at the member's office computer shall be a public record
subject to the exception of Section 610.021, RSMo.
If a public record contains material which is not exempt from
disclosure, as well as material which is exempt from disclosure, the
custodian shall separate the exempt and non-exempt material and make
the non-exempt material available for examination and copying in accord
with the policies provided herein. When designing a public record
the custodian shall, to the extent practicable, facilitate a separation
of exempt from non-exempt information. If the separation is readily
apparent to a person requesting to inspect or receive copies of the
form, the custodian shall generally describe the material exempted
unless that description would reveal the contents of the exempt information
and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption.
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
following definitions:
ARREST
An actual restraint of the person of the defendant, or by
his/her submission to the custody of the officer, under authority
of a warrant or otherwise for a criminal violation which results in
the issuance of a summons or the person being booked.
ARREST REPORT
A record of a law enforcement agency of an arrest and of
any detention or confinement incident thereto together with the charge
therefor.
INACTIVE
An investigation in which no further action will be taken
by a law enforcement agency or officer for any of the following reasons:
1.
A decision by the law enforcement agency not to pursue the case.
2.
Expiration of the time to file criminal charges pursuant to
the applicable statute of limitations or ten (10) years after the
commission of the offense, whichever date earliest occurs.
3.
Finality of the convictions of all persons convicted on the
basis of the information contained in the investigative report, by
exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal of such persons.
INCIDENT REPORT
A record of a law enforcement agency consisting of the date,
time, specific location, name of the victim, and immediate facts and
circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident,
including any logs of reported crimes, accidents and complaints maintained
by that agency.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
A record, other than an arrest or incident report, prepared
by personnel of a law enforcement agency inquiring into a crime or
suspected crime either in response to an incident report or in response
to evidence developed by Law Enforcement Officers in the course of
their duties.
Except as provided by this Section, any information acquired by the Police Department by way of a complaint or report of a crime made by telephone contact using the emergency number "911" shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the crime or incident shall be considered to be an incident report and subject to Section
117.130. Any closed records pursuant to this Section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the Division of Workers' Compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.
[Ord. No. 14.29 § 1, 6-19-2014]
A. After any meeting of the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning
Adjustment, the Tax Increment Financing Commission, and the Citizen
Advisory Committee, or any other City committee or commission, when
the presiding officer of that committee, the Mayor or the City Administrator
concludes that the committee has not met for ninety (90) days and
that no future meeting is scheduled or reasonably anticipated, the
following procedure may be used;
1.
The designated staff member responsible for minutes shall prepare
and mail, or transmit by e-mail, to the members, draft minutes requesting
their return with either approval or with the amendments proposed
by the member.
2.
In the event that any member proposes an amendment to the minutes, new minutes amended as proposed shall be submitted to the members as set forth in Subsection
(A)(1) immediately above.
3.
In lieu of a meeting to approve the minutes, the members shall
return the draft minutes to the staff member responsible for minutes,
initialed as endorsed and accurate, and the staff member responsible
for minutes shall retain those approved drafts until the next called
meeting.
4.
At the next meeting, the presiding officer shall move for formal
approval of the previous draft minutes. Members not present at the
original meeting shall be entitled to rely on a presumption of correctness
and completeness for those draft minutes initialed as endorsed and
accurate, and to vote for the approval of the minutes.
5.
The presumption that the draft minutes are correct and complete
may be rebutted before the commission or committee, and the commission
or committee shall be the final judge of the validity of the draft
minutes.
6.
The presiding officer, the Mayor or the City Administrator may
convene a meeting of the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning
Adjustment, the Tax Increment Financing Commission, and the Citizen
Advisory Committee or any other City committee or commission for the
sole purpose of approving the minutes, when litigation is a possibility
or when it appears in their judgment in the best interest of the City
to do so.